Clip for holding clothes, paper and the like



Dec. 13, 1966 J. BESNIER 3,290,751

CLIP FOR HOLDING CLOTHES, PAPER AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 22, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mum/70E Jar/v 659MB? Dec. 13, 1966 J. BESNIER CLIP FOR HOLDING CLOTHES, PAPER AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001;. 22, 1964 United States Patent 3,290,751 CLIP FOR HOLDING CLOTHES, PAPER AND THE LIKE Jean Besnier, 57 Rue Felix, Colombes, France Filed Oct. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 405,678 Claims priority, application France, Oct. 25, 1963, 951,736, Patent 1,383,884 3 Claims. (Cl. 24-262) The present invention relates to a clip for holding clothes, papers or the like, constituted of resilient wire and comprising a loop and two pincer arms adapted to engage each other by relative torsional movement of the loop and the arms, in such a way that the object held is clamped more securely between the pincer arms than is possible with the known clips, and that the interlocking of the arms prevents any strain being exerted on the object gripped so as to dislodge the hold of the said arms and permit the object which is held to slip out of the clip.

The present invention also shows further improvements on French Patent 1,117,520 of December 30, 1954 and the first patent of addition to this, No. 55,454, granted to the same applicant, and also French Patent P.V. No. 945,547 of August 23, 1963 having the title Resilient Attachment, applied for by Mr. Jean Besnier and Mr. Henri Alfred Charles Louis Devellenne.

The clip of the invention is constituted of resilient wire, having in open position the form of a flat loop extending over about 360 with a gap or an overlap less than approximately roughly symmetrical in relation to the axis of the loop, and with prolongations extending externally of the loop in the form of pincer arms at the most about out of alignment with the axis of symmetry of the loop, the clip being adapted to hold an object placed between its pincer arms by relative torsional movement of the loop on the one hand'and the arms on the other hand, and having the feature that the attaching parts of the two ends of the loop where the loop extends to form the pincer arms, in protection on a plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the loop, have substantially the shape of an are extending over at least approximately a semi-circle, and are disposed symmetrically in relation to the axis of symmetry of the loop. j

The method of using the clip consists in that after having placed the object which is to be held between the pincer arms of the opened clip, the loop is turned in relation to the arms until the above-mentioned attaching parts come in contact and consequently interlock with each other.

The locking takes place to a greater or lesser extent in accordance with the development of the attaching parts which can be from approximately a semi-circle to three-quarters of a circle in projection in accordance with the axis of symmetry of the loop.

The clip can have straight or bent arms, as the gripping eifect of the pincer arms on each other after the twisting of the loop can take place at any predetermined point along the arm. If the arms are straight they can have a trimming or a turning sleeve described in French Patent No. P.V. 945,547 of August 23, 1963 above-mentioned. Another and new improvement consists in giving at least one of the arms transverse ridges or other parts in relief for the purpose of obtaining a better hold on the objects which have been gripped between the pincer arms, particularly when the object consists of material. Another improvement consists in giving at least one of the arms a hook which after the locking of the clip engages in the object which has been gripped.

It will be seen that the essential nature of the clip of the invention is that when the clip has been positioned on the object, a locking of the arms in relation to each other takes place at the point of intersection of the two 3,290,751 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 arms, which greatly increases the tightening of these arms on the object which they are gripping, so as to resist accidental disengagement.

The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, wherein two variations of the invention are shown by way of illustration only.

FIGURES 1 to 8 concern the first embodiment of the clip of the invention, FIGURE 1 being a front view of the clip in open position with an axial section of one of the sleeves carried by the arms, whereas FIGURE 2 is a profile view of the clip in its open position.

FIGURE 3 is a profile view of the clip in closed position, after turning the loop through 270 in relation to the pincer arms.

FIGURE 4 is a front view of the clip in closed position.

FIGURES 5 and 8 are plan views of the clip, taken along the lines VV and VIIIVIII of FIGURES 1 and 3, respectively.

FIGURES 6 and 7 show in plan how the transition is made from the posit-ion of the open clip in FIGURE 5 to that of the closed clip in FIGURE 8 through the intermediate phases corresponding to rotations of and of the loop in relation to the arms.

FIGURES 9 to 17 concern the second embodiment of the clip of the invention; FIGURES 9 and 10 are, respectively, front and profile views of the clip in the open position; FIGURES l1 and 12 are, respectively, front and profile views of the closed clip after rotation through 360 of the loop in relation to the pincer arms, FIGURES 13 and 17 are plan views of sections taken along the lines XIII XIII and XVII-XVII, respectively, of the open clip in FIGURE 9 and the closed clip in FIGURE 11.

FIGURES 14, 15 and 16 are plan views corresponding to FGURES 13 and 15 but in intermediate positions, after rotation through 90, 180 and 270, respectively.

FIGURE 18 is a front view of the clip showing variations on the two embodiments mentioned above.

Referring now to the first embodiment, FIGURES l to 8: the clip constituted of a single piece of resilient wire comprises a loop 1 and two pincer arms 2 which here are rectilinear. In the open position in FIGURES 1, 2 and 5, the arms are connected to the loop by two similar elbow sections, analogous to a helicoidal spiral section and are obtained by deformation of the constituting wire on the one hand in relation to the plane of the loop in FIG- URE 2 and on the other hand preferably by angular displacement of the two arms in relation to each other as in FIGURE 1, and finally by arrangement of these deformations such that their projections in the plane perpendicular to the axis of symmetry of the loop as in FIGURE 5 are translated into a substantially circular curve of about 180. It should be understood that slight variations in relation to the shapes drawn are not at all prejudicial to the carrying out of the invention particularly insofar as concerns the shape of the arms, i.e. whether they should be straight or bent, their displacement, i.e. whether joined or not, and their angular position i.e. less than approximately 20.

The invention applies to clips with pincer arms 2 and 3 of bare wire, but an improvement already described in the above mentioned French Patent No. P.V. 945,547 of August 23, 1963 provides for sleeves 6 and 7 which can be carried on the wire arms in such a way as to be able to turn about their axes, and act as cushions for the arms. It is, however, provided here in a variation that the sleeves can also be unitary with the arms. Preferably these sleeves have profiles of various shapes which increase the adherence of the pincer arms to the object to be gripped such as cloth 8. These profiles can also be incised directly in the arm, for example in the form of transverse ridges 9 as in FIGURE 18 which can moreover be restricted to the parts of the two arms in contact after the gripping of the clip. In accordance with the thickness of the object to be gripped a certain spacing of the arms is provided for, and the clip is open between the two elbows 4 and 5 to permit the introduction of the cloth 8 between the sleeves. It will be seen that the size of the elbows should make it possible, after the closing of the clip as in FIGURE 3, to ensure the gripping of the arms 2, 3 and, if such are provided, of the sleeves 6 and 7, on the object 8 and consequently to take into account the diameter of the arms and/or the sleeves and that of the object 8 as well as, if applicable, any possibility of this object being crushed by the effect of the sleeves. The gripping of the arms of the clip on an object 8 is eflfected by causing the loop to turn through 270 approximately about the arms 2 and 3.

FIGURES 5 and 8 show various deformations of the clip during the rotation. It can be seen that the two elbows 4 and 5 will be placed in such a way as to roll around each other while locking together. As they carry out these movements a progressive locking takes place between them. The elasticity of the loop 1 keeps them in position with pressure, and the two locked elbows prevent a spacing of the arms 2 and 3 and the sleeves 6 and 7 which will accordingly grip hard on the object 8.

As a result, particularly when the pincer arms are of bare wire or the sleeves 6 and 7 are provided with contoured profiles, it is practically impossible to remove the object 8 from the clip. This is particularly useful in the case where the object 8 is material, such as a curtain, canvas or the like.

The clip of FIGURES 9 to 17 is similar to that above. The reference symbols of the various parts of the clips are those of the preceding example increased by 10. However, the curving plane of the elbows 14 and 15 is more accentuated than in the preceding case and is near 270, which makes it possible to make practically a complete turn of the loop 11 in relation to the arms. The result is a more complete locking of the two arms in all directions where spacing apart is likely to take place. Moreover, the medial plane of the loop is in the perpendicular plane of the object 8 to be gripped, whereas in the preceding example the medial plane of the loop and the medial plane of the object to be gripped coincide. This arrangement increases still further the effectiveness of the locking of the two pincer arms of the clip. The remainder of the description of this second embodiment is similar to that given for the first example.

It is accordingly possible to manufacture clips with a development in plan of the attaching parts of the arms which is between a semi-circle and three quarters of a circle, and even more. The necessary rotation of the locking of the clip varies correspondingly.

To improve the gripping of the clip, at least one of its arms can be bent at 10 as in FIGURE 18, to constitute a hook, the end of which, after the turning of the clip, penetrates the object to be gripped, which if it is rigid optionally also have a corresponding hole. This improvement is obviously applicableto any of the variations of the clip.

It should be understood that the invention is not restricted to the examples described but extends to modifications within the scope of those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A clip comprising a length of resilient wire of folded configuration defining pincer arm portions located one adjacent each end of the wire, a loop portion between said pincer arm portions, said loop portion extending for about 360 and defining an axis of symmetry and intermediate portions located one between each pincer arm portion and the adjacent end of the loop portion, which intermediate portions maintain the pincer arms at an angle of at the most 20 with respect to the axis of symmetry of the loop portion, said intermediate portions having, in projection on a plane at right angles to the axis of symmetry of the loop portion, the configuration of an are extending over from substantially semi-circle to substantially three quarters of a circle and being disposed symmetrically with respect to the axis of symmetry of the loop, said clip being deformable between open and closed positions by effection of relative rotational movement between the loop portion and the pincer arm portions of from substantially 270 to substantially 360 until the intermediate portions engage each other, the arrangement being such that an object may be held between the pincer arm portions when in the closed position.

2. A clip as claimed in claim 1, and sleeve means rotatably mounted upon each of said pincer arm portions.

3. A clip as claimed in claim 1, and at least one hook portion on one end of the wire.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 692,274 2/1902 Gumaer 24-262 X 727,347 5/1903 Glover 24-261 1,187,226 6/1916 Anderson 24-262 1,317,416 9/1919 Baltzley 24261 1,469,623 10/ 1923 Colombani 24-261 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,117,620 2/ 1956 France.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. D. A. GRIFFIN, Examiner. 

1. A CLIP COMPRISING A LENGTH OF RESILIENT WIRE OF FOLDED CONFIGURATION DEFINING PINCER ARM PORTIONS LOCATED ONE ADJACENT EACH END OF THE WIRE, A LOOP PORTION BETWEEN SAID PINCER ARM PORTIONS, SAID LOOP PORTION EXTENDING FOR ABOUT 360* AND DEFINING AN AXIS OF SYMMETRY AND INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS LOCATED ONE BETWEEN EACH PINCER ARM PORTION AND THE ADJACENT END OF THE LOOP PORTION, WHICH INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS MAINTAIN THE PINCER ARMS AT AN ANGLE OF AT THE MOST 20* WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY OF THE LOOP PORTION, SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS HAVING, IN PROJECTION ON A PLANE AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE AXIS OF SYMMETRY OF THE LOOP PORTION, THE CONFIGURATION OF AN ARC EXTENDING OVER FROM SUBSTANTIALLY SEMI-CIRCLE TO SUBSTANTIALLY THREE QUARTERS OF A CIRCLE AND BEING DISPOSE SYMMETRICALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS SYMMETRY OF THE LOOP, SAID CLIP BEING DEFORMABLE BETWEEN OPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS BY EFFECTION OF RELATIVE ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE LOOP PORTION AND THE PINCER ARM PORTIONS OF FROM SUBSTANTIALLY 270* TO SUBSTANTIALLY 360* UNTIL THE INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS ENGAGE EACH OTHER, THE ARRANGEMENT BEING SUCH THAT AN OBJECT MAY BE HELD BETWEEN THE PINCER ARM PORTIONS WHEN IN THE CLOSED POSITION. 